After Nick Robinson reported that “The Labour leader’s aides say that he sees this as another Milly Dowler moment”. There was a storm and it was a contentious front page news story about which he tweeted:
Calm down Twitter. I did not quote anyone re Ed M & Milly Dowler. Said his aides saw this as moment like that ie to stand up to powerful
— Nick Robinson (@bbcnickrobinson) February 12, 2015
This was somewhat of a misdirection. In his new memoir he writes:
Lunch with Tom Baldwin. The Labour spin doctor is still buzzing after PMQs. This moment, he tells me, is like the moment when the story broke about the hacking of the murdered teenager Milly Dowler’s phone. He means they are both balance-tipping moments, the point where an issue that hasn’t previously excited most people – in one case phone- hacking within the Murdoch empire, in the other tax avoidance – suddenly galvanizes the public. This is a moment when Ed can show he’s standing up to the rich and powerful.
Hate feeling like my sister is being used as a pawn in the political election! #millydowler pic.twitter.com/Pb7dw32uiC
— Gemma Dowler (@starfish86) February 13, 2015
It is worth looking back on how partisan the response was to this storm, many tried to make out that Nick Robinson was the original author of the phrase:
Your quote is good. The 'someone' using 'Milly' seems to be Nick R and papers @MarkLewisLawyer @ianrobo1 @kb32904 @yorkierosie
— Peter Jukes (@peterjukes) February 13, 2015
Guido reported at the time that the “… tasteless metaphor sounds like Tom Baldwin…”
Nick Robinson: Election Notebook: The Inside Story Of The Battle Over Britain’s Future And My Personal Battle To Report It £16.59
Comments are closed